Jallikattu - a game changer !!

A lot has already been written about Jallikattu in past few days. When the topic came into discussion few days ago, I had, frankly speaking, overlooked it. But then, one day, I saw a big, no, not big, huge poster put up just in front of my window. Yes, here, in Mumbai, saying "We support Jallikattu". That point, I realized, how big this issue is going to be in coming few days. And that is exactly what happened.

               In coming days, I saw news of protest all across in support of this traditional game. Sooner, all Tamil actors jumped in to forey. The chief minister had to rush to Prime minister, Supreme court was in action. The strength of the protest was increasing day by day. Suddenly, one day, apparently it turned violent, Chennai was out of control. Then, news of burning cabs and all, by the policemen themselves, started making rounds. A result, as of now, apparently, a legislation has been passed by the Tamilnadu government to lift the the ban over Jallikattu, but still some Supreme court proceedings are in function. Basically, Jallikattu is on this year.

                    There are many such traditional games like Jallikattu, which have been banned over past few years. I am not really into this thread of news, but probably, Jallikattu was latest 2014-16 in this list of banned games. But unlike other games supporters, Jallikattu supporters did not accept it easily and came back very strongly this year to get the ban lifted. 

As I said, there are many traditional games on the same lines as Jaallikattu, which are facing the wrath of people considering them as animal cruelty. There is Kambala in Karnataka, where there is buffalo race taking place. On the same lines, Maharashtra has race organized for Ox.

          But, when I had hear about these bans being put, I keep wondering, why selectively some games are banned. For example, Ox race, buffalo race, Jallikattu are banned, but horse racing is going great. It is still allowed. These Oxes, buffaloes, bulls belong to the farmers to the extent of being their family members, but the horses are bred and bought only with the sole purpose of racing. While, these banned games used to take place during some festive occasions, that too in some remote villages, the horse racing take place almost regularly, that too as a business, and in city areas like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai. 

Another interesting and surprising thing I realized last year during Olympics is there are games solely related to horses. How well are those horses tamed !! These horses are made to dance (with or without their wish, we do not know) on some musical piece ( of course the skill is of the jockey). This makes me wonder, why couldn't PETA reach on to these urban venues to get horse racing and other such games banned, while they successfully managed to bring ban on the traditional games.

I am not pro- or against traditional games. All I am saying is, make similar rules for every one. Let economics not govern the future of some games. Traditional games are banned pointing at cruelty on animals, but games like horse racing are never discussed, because lot of money is involved in it. This intrigues me

I tried to read a bit about Jallikattu. One of the most informative material, I received here. Seems, there is lot of logical reasoning put in behind this game. First and foremost, to improve is to improve and retain the original breeds of the type. As I read, the number of original breeds of cow has been reduced from 130 to 35 in last many years. One of the reasons is, no attempts have been made to retain those breeds. In addition, because of cross breeding with European cows, other breeds yielding more milk than original breeds are taking over the market. The hidden aspect, which probably is now getting revealed is the introduction of A1 type milk in India, which never was present here. Still unrevealed completely, but some protein structures of these A1 type contain an amino acid moiety releasing morphine type product in the blood stream, a well known drug molecule. If some how it is confirmed, that this  A1 type milk has side effects, then all the white revolution we are feeling proud of, will come back to us, haunting for the life time.

To some extent, there is  a possibility of animal cruelty in such games. Probably the dynamics of the game is dangerous for both the bull as well as the men,trying to tame the animal. As Kamal Hassan suggested, rather than banning the game and stopping the long tradition suddenly, you regulate the game and make attempt to make it safer. I would give example of Dahi handi in Maharashtra. Its a game, where a huge human pyramid is made to break  a pot tied at a height. Earlier, people used to make almost 9-storied human pyramid with a very small kid at the top. But in last few years, efforts have been taken to regulate this game. Now, it is an adventurous sport, restricted for adults with minimum age of participation 18, plus a restriction on the height of pyramid to be made. In between, the game had acquired the phase of political ambition, but now, it seems to be returning back to the nature of original game, with the intent, it was started.
I believe similar efforts should be taken while considering all the sports of adventurous nature and PETA should rather concentrate towards stopping cruelty on different horses, who have now a days converted to meager source of enjoyment for few rich people around.